Melbourne Zoo experiences a baby BA-BOOM!

It’s a case of double trouble at Melbourne Zoo, with the exciting arrival of not just one, but two healthy baby Hamadryas Baboons.

Visitors have the opportunity to see the little primates, which currently weigh little more than 500 grams, clinging on to their happy mothers, Qetesh and Macey, up close at the zoo’s Baboon exhibit.

The newborn duo are part of a ‘baby ba-boom’ at Melbourne Zoo, joining a growing troop of nine infants and children, all under the age of five.

Melbourne Zoo Primate Keeper Andrew Thompson said the two new arrivals were active, inquisitive, and had settled in well with the support of their mothers.

“The mothers and the babies are both doing really well,” Mr Thompson said. “It’s heartwarming to see the relationships and bonds that have quickly formed. There are a lot of really positive behaviours occurring, like grooming and suckling, which is fantastic.”

Mr Thompson said the baby baboons would be kept warm and safe by their mothers during their infancy, but it would not be long before they sought independence and became playmates with the other young baboons of the troop.

“The babies are currently clinging to the stomach of their mothers, but when they get a little bit older they start to ride on their back,” he said. “At about six months of age they’ll start to become independent and spent time with their fellow infant Baboons.”